Apparatus rack



J. c. FIELD APPARATUS RACK Filed Oct. 7, 1921 Oct. 27, 1925c OOOOOOO 1.141 I ll l wn lJll Josey/7, Cfi

Patented Got. 27, i l 925.

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JOSEPH C. FIELD, OF ORANGE, HEN JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO WESTERN ELECTRICCOlidIPANY, INCCPRZEC?1'54" !EB, OF NEW YORK, N. A. GORFQRATION OF NEWYORK.

APPARATUS RACK.

Application filed October 7, 1921. Serial No. 596,164.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Josnri-r C. Freon, a citizen of the United States,residing at Orange, in the county of Essex, tate of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful improvements in rimparatus Racks, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

This invention relates to supports for electrical apparatus, andparticularly to that type of apparatus support known as the rack. 1

It is an object of the invention to provide apparatus rack of the abovecharacter which is compact and of attractive appearance, combining greatstrength and rigidity with a minimum of weight, and in which the cost ofmanufacture is reduced to a minimum. c

To this end, the invention contemplates employing a thin, bute.;cept-ionally strong, metallic frame, provided on one face with arigid holding strip, and on its opposite face with'a plurality ofuniformly-spaced, resilient tongues or clips, the lower clipscoopcrating with the upper holding strip to form a plurality of clampingmembers each of which is adapted to clamp the base of a relay and holdit firmly in position. ihe clamping members are mounted permanently inplace and permit the ready removal of the relays by simply releasing theresilient clips. The clamping members are properly spaced upon the framethus providing a seat for banks of relays in any desired number. I

It is another object of the invention to provide an apparatus rack inwhich the various parts and sections may bereadily assembled, and areeasily accessible for wiring connections and adjustment.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus rack inwhich the supported apparatus may be firmly held in.

place so as to resist accidental ars, and still be readily and quicklydetachable.

Otherobjects and features of the invention will appear from aconsideration of the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing and the appended claims.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the apparatus rack, aportion being broken away to show the joint between the frames; Fig. 2is a sectional view taken on the line 2 .2 of Figure 1, showing thecompact arrangement of apparatus upon the rack; and Fig. 3 isperspective View, partly in section, of the clamping unit, enlarged forthe sake of clearness. I

Referringto the drawing, the frame proper is made up of end supports 1and top supports 2, which are preferably formed of angle iron and arejoined in any suitable manner, as by means of the studs 3. Con venientlyspaced upon the end frames of the rack are cross bars 4 which may alsobe of angle iron of suiiicient strengtlrto act as a brace for the endframes and also to serve as a support for the apparatus clampingmembers, as hereinafter described. Ezrtendin longitudinally of the frameand supported upon opposite cross bars 4i are the apparatus holdingmembers which comprise rigid, inverted U-shaped strips of metal 5, andresilient two-branch metallic tongues or clips 6 clamped between blocks'2', which may be .of wood or metal, by means of he headed studs '8, asbest shown in Fig. In order that the comparatively thin spring clips 6shall not be made to bear the weight of the apparatus which they clampin place, a rigid metallic plate 9 is inserted between. the clips .6 andthe upper clampingblock 7, to form a rest for the bases of theapparatus. This plate may be either a short strip of about the width ofthe clip itself, or else may take the form of a continuous stripextending across the frame, as is shown in Fig. 1. Theblocks 7,supporting the apparatus clamping members 5 and 6, extend longitudinallyacross the frame, as noted above, and in order that the various piecesof apparatus to be supported may be held in compact alinement, the crossbars 4 are spaced just far enough apart to permit the passage of thebase of the apparatus between the rigid strip 5 and the resilienttongues or clips 6, positioned on the cross bar below. The apparatussupporting unit is fixed to the crossbars 4, preferably in the mannershown in sectionin Fig. 1. Here the rigid inverted U-shaped member 5extends beyond the end of the blocks 7 and is clamped to the bar 4 bymeans of the stud 10. It is to be understood, however, that the upperclamping members 5 may be of a short length corresponding to the clips6, and in such a case the blocks 7 are made fast to the cross bars 4.The rigid holding members 5, the two branches of the resilient clips 6and their associated plates 9 extend on both sides of the supportingblocks 7, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, to provide seats foroppositely faced relays at the front and back of the rack, the lowermember 5 of each clamping unit acting as the upper holding member forthe clamping unit below. Thus, in Fig. 2, the edges of the bases ofrelays 12 and 13 are first inserted between block 7 and invertedU-shaped holding member 5, and are then slid over the rounded portion ofthe respective clips 6 to a resting position on the sup porting plate 9,the two relays being clamped back-to-back against the block 7.

The frames 1 and 2 of the rack may be of any desired height and length,respectively, to accommodate any number of relays, the braces 11 beingprovided intermediate the end frames to provide additional strength andrigidity. It will be seen that the skeleton rack made in accordance withthis invention is particularh accessible for wiring connections andadjustments and is still extremely compact, light and portable and maybe readily assembled.

Certain departures may obviously be made in materials and details ofconstruction within the scope and spirit of the invention, and it isaccordingly to be understood that the invention is not limited to thespecific description herein contained except as defined by the scope ofthe following claims.

IVhat is claimed is:

1. An apparatus rack comprising end standards, a two-branch strip, aplurality of twobranch resilient clips, a plurality of members betweenwhich said strip and clips are clamped with the clips spaced apart thusforming a unit, 1neans for securing a plurality of units so formed tosaid end standards in spaced relation, each opposed pair of clipscooperating with the branches of said strip to attach a pair ofoppositely faced pieces of apparatus having edge portions which slipinto the grooves in said strip and snap into said clips.

2. An apparatus rack comprising end standards, a number of units eachmade up of an inverted U-shaped rigid strip, a memher on which saidstrip is mounted and forming with said strip a pair of opposed grooves,a plurality of tongues of resilient material each having a pair ofolf-set portions and a member for supporting said tongues in proximityto said strip, and means for securing a plurality of said units to saidend standards in spaced relation, each pair of opposed off-set portionson one unit cooperating with the opposed grooves on another unit toattach a pair of oppo sitely faced pieces of apparatus to the rack.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 4th day ofOctober, A. D. 1921.

JOSEPH C. FIELD.

